Sport & Story Daily December 7, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

December 7, 2023

Good morning! NCAA President Charlie Baker walks back his comments about schools paying athletes…just a bit.

NCAA president says NIL proposal just a starting point
A day after NCAA President Charlie Baker made an aggressive and potentially groundbreaking pitch to allow some schools to pay their athletes, his proposal was met with praise, caution and questions from around college sports.

"I think Charlie has indicated his intent for that to begin a discussion," Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said Wednesday during an appearance at the Sports Business Journal's Intercollegiate Athletic Forum. "There's certainly a lot of content included from which to begin a discussion."
espn.com

Cleveland Guardians win 2024 MLB draft lottery despite 2% chance: See the full draft order
The 2024 MLB draft lottery was held at the annual winter meetings in Nashville on Tuesday, and even with one of the slimmest odds of all eligible teams, Cleveland was selected to have the No. 1 pick in next summer's draft.

Like the NBA draft, MLB decides the top half of its draft order through a lottery system, rather than basing it on the previous season's records. The three worst teams are given an 18.3% chance of getting the top pick, with the odds decreasing as the order goes up. The lottery is used to determine the first six picks, after which the regular season records determines the rest.
usatoday.com

GENIUS SPORTS LAUNCHES FANHUB ID MULTI-PLATFORM AD PRODUCT
Genius Sports on Wednesday launched FanHub ID, the first product that can identify solutions for fan advertising across multiple platforms using sports consumption-based profiles.

The product offers an “all-in-one platform” for media buying, fan engagement analytics and insights, and AI creative personalization and optimization.
^sportico.com

Your Vision Insights: Well, What About Experiential? 

A major opportunity for sponsors to surpass the awareness threshold and into the hearts & minds of fans is through experiential activation. Ever wonder which fan bases are tops when it comes to the likelihood of engaging with booths, promos, and activations areas? The graphic above illustrates the top 6 U.S fan bases that say they’re likely to engage with sponsor booths and promo areas while attending live events.

HIGHEST-PAID FEMALE ATHLETES 2023: COCO SCORES TOP SLOT AT $23M
For two decades, the title of highest-paid female athlete has belonged to one of a trio of tennis stars in Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka. Yet, Williams retired last year, and Sharapova hung up her racket in 2020, while Osaka took the year off from tennis with the birth of her daughter Shai and paused many of her lucrative endorsement deals.

It set the stage for a new No. 1, with three athletes tightly bunched. Coco Gauff nudged out Iga Świątek and Eileen Gu with an estimated $22.7 million from prize money and endorsements in 2023. The 19-year-old captured her first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, triggering lucrative bonuses from partners New Balance and Head.
^sportico.com

NHL’s Projected Record Cap Reflects Revenue Surge (and Resilience)
The NHL’s financial outlook is rapidly improving, the latest evidence being the growth of its salary cap.

The league’s 2024-25 cap is projected to reach a new record of $87.7 million, up $4.2 million from the current level of $83.5 million and the largest year-over-year increase since the 2019-20 season.

Expected for months, the growth shows more precisely how the NHL has rebounded from the economic impact of the pandemic. In the early days of the global public health crisis, the league and the NHL Players Association reached a new labor deal that kept the salary cap at its 2019 level of $81.5 million until 2022. It then went up by $1 million, then by another $1 million earlier this year. 
^{frontofficesports.com}

ESPN Commentators Richt, Tebow Receive Well Wishes from On-Air Teammates Ahead of Duo’s College Football Hall of Fame Induction
Two of the greatest influences on college football are set to have their names etched in the annals of the sport, as ACC Network analyst Mark Richt and SEC Network analyst Tim Tebow will celebrate their respective inductions to the College Football Hall of Fame today.

Richt established himself as one of the top coaches in college football history during his 18 years as a head coach, winning nearly 72 percent of his games and never missing the postseason. During his tenure at Georgia (2001-15) and Miami (2016-18), he mentored 15 First Team All-Americans and was a three-time conference coach of the year (2002 & 2005, SEC; 2017, ACC). ESPN hired the Miami alum to be an analyst on ACC Network ahead of the network’s launch in 2019.
^{espnfrontrow.com}

Does Mark Cuban See a Bubble That is About to Burst in Sports Media?
America’s top professional and college sports leagues have been living on easy street for the last ten years. Whenever their broadcast rights come up for negotiations, the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, the SEC and the Big Ten have been able to count on a line of bidders eager to get in on the action. 

That party may be close to over though. Amin Elhassan of Meadowlark Media said last week that Mark Cuban may be the first to see it and that is why he is ready to sell off his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks.
barrettsportsmedia.com

NHL Plans To Stage 2024 Draft At $2.3B Vegas Sphere
The NHL has confirmed its intent to hold the 2024 Draft at the Sphere, becoming the latest sports entity to embrace the next-generation venue in Las Vegas.

The league has not yet signed final contracts for the June 28-29 event, but commissioner Gary Bettman said the deal is a near-certainty.

“I think it’ll be a pretty well-viewed event, both in terms of the draft itself and the viral use of the Sphere inside and outside,” Bettman said. “So we think it’ll be dramatic and compelling.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

New Mexico hiring former BYU, Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall: Sources
New Mexico has finalized a deal for Bronco Mendenhall to become its head coach, sources involved in the decision said Tuesday. Mendenhall is 135-81 over 17 seasons as a head coach between BYU and Virginia.

Mendenhall, 57, has not coached since leading the Cavaliers to a 6-6 season in 2021. He has led programs to 14 bowl appearances — including taking UVA to an Orange Bowl — with seven victories.
^{theathletic.com}

Pepperdine Director of Athletics Steve Potts to Retire in 2024
Steve Potts (JD '82) announced Wednesday that he will retire as Pepperdine University's director of athletics at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. 
 
"It has been my honor and privilege to serve as the director of athletics at Pepperdine and to work alongside some of the most talented and dedicated coaches, staff members and student-athletes," said Potts.  "I am proud of what we have accomplished during my time as the director of athletics and am energized by the prospective continued and renewed success for all of our teams with significant facility upgrades on the horizon. The best is yet to come for the Waves!
^{pepperdinewaves.com}

College Football Playoff executive director stands behind 'ethical, deliberate, detailed' voting process
College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock winced Monday afternoon. He had just realized one of his CFP Selection Committee members had gone public with their reasoning about why that person voted not to include Florida State in playoffs.

"It was gut-wrenching," that committee member told CBS Sports under the condition of anonymity. "For me, individually, I evaluated [whether they could] make it through and win a national championship with the team they had."
_{cbssports.com}

Report: Texas A&M set to hire Kansas State's Collin Klein as new offensive coordinator
Texas A&M is reportedly set to hire Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein to the same role under Aggies coach Mike Elko.

“Sources: Texas A&M is set to hire Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein for the same role under new coach Mike Elko,” Rittenberg wrote on Twitter. “Klein has emerged as one of the top OCs in the market, and drew interest last year from Notre Dame. First reported by @LifeofFitz.”
^on3.com

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